The police have lodged an FIR against 50 named and 200 unidentified persons on different charges including rioting and attempt to murder, and arrested nine persons.

A mob clashed with police in Kushinagar district, after the police stopped them from installing an idol of Shiva in an old temple without permission from the district administration, in Khadda police station area on Friday. Over a dozen people including four policemen were injured in the clash.

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The police have lodged an FIR against 50 named and 200 unidentified persons on different charges including rioting and attempt to murder, and arrested nine persons including the husband of the local Nagar Panchayat chairman for inciting and indulging in violence.

Station Officer, Khadda police station, Shri Prakash Yadav told The Indian Express that local Nagar Panchayat chairman Sharda’s husband Raju Tulsiyan had made a public announcement Thursday in Jatashanker about the installation of a Shiva idol at the temple, and had invited all Hindus to gather there, Yadav said.

The police came to know about the announcement, and a police force was deployed at the temple to prevent the people from installing the idol.

Kushinagar SP Bharat Singh Yadav said the temple is constructed on government land, and permission of the district administration is required to install an idol there. Heavy police force was deployed at the temple. Raju Tulsiyan, who made the announcement and has seven criminal cases registered against him, had attempted to install the idol earlier as well, added Yadav.

The SO said Raju Tulsiyan, leading a mob of locals, reached the temple Friday afternoon and tried to enter the temple forcibly. As cops stopped them, the villagers carrying sticks and stones attacked the policemen, alleged the SO. The police then lathicharged to disperse the mob, but four policemen suffered injuries in the clash, the SO claimed. Heavy police force has been deployed at the village, which has a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims.